The Art of Jewelry: Polymer Clay

Rarely has a volume featured so much pioneering work! With the latest translucent, metallic, and liquid polymers added to their arsenal, jewelry artists have pushed beyond the craft’s traditional boundaries and entered new creative worlds. This collection of exquisite contemporary jewelry showcases that progress, offering inventive techniques, insights from contemporary creators, and eye-opening pieces by the premier innovators in polymer clay. Judith Skinner, who developed the now universally termed "Skinner blend," offers a pin featuring a design inspired by an Amish quilt. Mixed-media artist Luann Udell demonstrates how to create a brilliantly colored necklace from faux African trade beads. And that’s just the start!  All the pieces appear in beautiful color images, accompanied by the artists’ design tips and illuminating commentary.
Katherine Duncan Aimone was an art museum curator and gallery director, and has written numerous books, including The Fiberarts Book of Wearable Art (Lark, 2002). She currently lives in Asheville, North Carolina, where she works as a freelance editor and author.

Katherine Duncan Aimone has a background as an art museum curator and gallery director. She has written numerous books, including The Fiberarts Book of Wearable Art (Lark, 2002). Katherine currently lives and works in Asheville, North Carolina, where she works as a freelance editor and author.

"It is eye-opening how a substance used to make white plumbing pipe can be transformed with unusual techniques (and combinations) by skilled artisans. Under Aimone's remarkable tutelage, polymer clay, called PVC here, becomes Italian millefiore beads, shiny abstract cuffs, intricate log-cabin quilt pins, and even calla lily-like earrings. Although other instructional polymer clay books exist, up to now all have focused on basic shapes and elemental design. The 14 selected artists do themselves proud by creating 33 items worthy of display and sale in any fine jewelry store. Instructions are almost complete, with enough visuals to follow--with the exception of a defined level of difficulty for each. And the pages upon pages of galleries showcase the beauties of a once-modest material." - Booklist